Fourth Sunday after Trinity

“First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye” (Lk 6:42). This is a command from Jesus, but a command that many Christians are likely to ignore. Why? “Because,” we might say, “obviously Jesus must be talking to someone else, not to me. If I had a plank in my eye, I would know it, right?” Perhaps not. That’s the trouble with having a plank. You can’t see the plank, because of the plank. When it’s a problem, and Jesus seems to think that it’s possible, you might be the last to know.

So today, let’s consider Jesus’ words and how they might, it fact, apply to you. What does it mean to have a plank in your eye? For starters, Jesus is speaking against hypocrisy—we all hate being around hypocrites—and there are some obvious examples of hypocrital planks that we can immediately recognize: the man who’s having an affair and yet is enraged when his wife says “good morning” to a stranger in passing, or the professional thief who gets upset because someone ate the last donut. These people clearly have a serious plank problem and should take care of it!

But Jesus isn’t talking about other people’s planks; he’s talking about yours. And the first way we might ignore what Jesus is saying is simply by refusing to believe that He is talking to us. “Jesus’s words don’t apply to me, because I never have a plank in my eye.” And your neighbor says, “What’s that huge thing in front of your face?” What, this little speck?” Have you ever noticed how good you are at explaining away your own sins as specks, and also an expert at noticing the very big, extremely massive, super huge planks in your neighbor’s eye? This is common to man. It’s how the sinful nature works.

That’s the second problem we have with Jesus’ instructions: we’re bad at telling the difference between specks and planks. We need an impartial judge, an objective standard. Otherwise, the default rubric is, “Whatever is in my eye is always a speck, and whatever is in my neighbor’s eye is always a plank.” There is an objective standard, the Word of God. But the sinful nature doesn’t like that standard because the Word of God doesn’t play favorites. It doesn’t side with the home team, the way the Old Adam does, always excusing his own bad behavior. God’s Word is no respecter of persons. It doesn’t care how long you’ve been a member, or how much you contribute to the church. That, by the way, is one reason I never want to know how much anyone here puts in the offering plate, because I’ve been sent here by God to deliver His Word that calls every sinner to repentance, not to excuse and overlook the sins of the big givers. The Word of God will say to each person here, “Your behavior is sinful. The way you lost your temper is inexcusable. The way you treated your spouse, or sibling, or coworker is ungodly. You have a plank in your eye. Repent!”

This leads us to the third problem with planks: If the Word of God is not your standard of judgment, then whether you know it or not, your conscience will be informed by the values of the surrounding culture. The sinful world calls good evil, and evil good. It celebrates plank month, and champions willful blindness. And if you are not an active student of God’s Word, then you will have a massive plank in your eye: the plank of worldly thinking, worldly values, worldly language, worldly ideals. There is no such thing as an uncatechized person. There are no blank slates, no neutral parties. Your values are either informed by the Word of God, or they are informed by our culture that is opposed to God and His Word. You are either being continuously catechized by Christ, or you are being catechized, in more ways than you know, by this sinful world. Its values are becoming your values. It’s agenda your agenda.

And what is the world’s agenda? In the Fourth Century, St. Anthony the Great wrote, “A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, ‘You are mad; you are not like us.’ ” The time that St. Anthony predicted is upon us. Anyone who is not in lockstep with our hell-bent world is considered to be a brainwashed idiot. Those who hold to God’s definition of marriage and family and men and women are called bigots and haters. A young women who chooses motherhood over a career is looked down upon as a second-rate citizen rather than being held in high esteem and honor. Last week the state of Michigan passed a new law punishing those who do not use the “correct” pronouns with up to a $10,000 fine or five years in prison. Truly the world has gone mad. It considers biblical virtue to be the worst form of toxic hatred, and it will forcibly remove this plank from your eye. Dear Christians, if you are not an active student of God’s Word, you will unwittingly become a pawn in Satan’s assault upon the Church. Repent!

The final problem we face with planks is actually removing them. If you are willing to set aside pointing the finger at your brother and his speck, if you are willing to admit the truth about your own sin, your behavior towards those closest to you, the extent to which you have allowed your thinking to be shaped by the prevailing winds of our culture, then what? Jesus says, “Take the plank out of your own eye.” Admitting that you have a plank is the first step. But then what? How can it be removed? The Word of God tells us. 1 John, chapter 1, verses 8 and 9: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn 1:8–9).

There is only one way to remove the plank from your eye. Jesus says, “Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28). You have a plank in your eye. Don’t deny it. Don’t ignore it. Don’t call it a speck. And don’t try to remove it yourself. You can’t. Instead, bring it to Jesus, the great physician and healer. Let His Body and Blood cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Allow His word of forgiveness to permeate your heart and mind. Allow your values and your thinking to be shaped and molded by the Word of God. There is what the Bible calls “walking in the light”—not, as some would think, living without sin, but rather, confessing your sins and receiving the forgiveness that only Christ can give.

When Jesus says, “Remove the plank from your own eye,” this is nothing other than an invitation to repentance and faith. “Come to me, and be made new.” Come, you who are blinded by sin, and be forgiven. The plank in your eye may be great, but your Savior is greater still. The cup of His forgiveness runs over. Come and receive it. Amen.